XN000022-1987-11-14 — Page 3

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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1987

UNEMPLOYMENT, UNDEREMPLOYMENT STATISTICS

FOR JULY

-

SEPTEMBER RELEASED

•

SEPTEMBER 1987,

IN THE THREE MONTHS JULY

BOTH THE UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATES REMAINED STABLE AT A LOW LEVEL, COMPARED WITH THE THREE MONTHS ENDING JUNE 1987, ACCORDING TO THE LATEST LABOUR FORCE STATISTICS RELEASED TODAY (SATURDAY) BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.

THESE FIGURES INDICATE THAT DURING THE THIRD QUARTER THE LABOUR MARKET CONDITIONS HAVE REMAINED TIGHT, WITH THE LOCAL WORKFORCE FULLY EMPLOYED.

SEPTEMBER

THE SEASONALLY ADJUSTED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FOR JULY 1987 WAS 1.8 PER CENT, WHICH WAS THE ЯAMB A8 THAT FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDING JUNE 1987. THE RATE FOR THE SAME PERIOD A YEAR EARLIER WAS 2.8 PER CENT. THE DECREASE OF 1.0 PERCENTAGE POINT BELOW THE SAME PERIOD A YEAR EARLIER IS STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT.

THE NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED PERSONS IN JULY - SEPTEMBER 1987 WAS ESTIMATED AT 49,900, COMPARED WITH 47,800 FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDING JUNE 1987; AND 75,000 FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDING SEPTEMBER 1986.

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THE UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE FOR JULY SEPTEMBER 1987 WAS 1.0 PER CENT WHICH COMPARES WITH 1.1 PER CENT FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDING JUNE 1987. THE RATE FOR JULY SEPTEMBER 1986 WAS 1.3 PER CENT. THE DECREASE OF 0.1 PERCENTAGE POINT BELOW THE PREVIOUS THREE MONTH PERIOD IS STATISTICALLY NOT SIGNIFICANT, WHILE THE DECREASE OF 0.3 PERCENTAGE POINT BELOW THE SAMR PERIOD A YEAR EARLIER 19 STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT.

THE ESTIMATED NUMBER OF UNDEREMPLOYED PERSONS FOR JULY SEPTEMBER 1987 WAS 26,800, COMPARED WITH 29,500 FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDING JUNE 1987 AND 36,600 FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDING SEPTEMBER 1986.

THE

CONSISTENT WITH THE CURRENT RECOMMENDATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION (ILO), PERSONS WHO WORKED LESS THAN 35 HOURS A WEEK DUE TO ECONOMIC REASONS (SUCH AS SLACK WORK, MATERIAL SHORTAGE, MECHANICAL BREAKDOWN AND INABILITY TO FIND FULL-TIME WORK) WERE REGARDED AS UNDEREMPLOYED ONLY IF THEY WERE EITHER SEEKING OR AVAILABLE FOR MORE WORK.

CBNSUS AND JOB-SEEKERS

COMMENTING ON THESE FIGURES, THE COMMISSIONER FOR STATISTICS SAID THAT BECAUSE THE PROPORTION OF FIRST-TIME (E.G. PEOPLE WHO HAVE JUST LEFT SCHOOL) VARIES FROM MONTH TO MONTH, UNEMPLOYMENT RATES THAT HAD BEEN SEASONALLY ADJUSTED TO TAKE ACCOUNT OF THE VARIATIONS IN THE NUMBER OF FIRST-TIME JOB-SEEKERS SHOULD BE USED IN MAKING COMPARISONS OVER TIME.

/THE COMMISSIONER